Date:09/09/2010
Source: The Democratic Alliance
Title: DA: Steyn: Address by DA Member of Parliament, on human settlements, National Assembly, Cape Town


It is almost one year since the Ad-Hoc oversight committee was established by a resolution adopted in this House to investigate the underlying reasons for the often violent protests across the country.

The issues that led to many of the protests still existed during our oversight visits and sadly still exist even as we debate this report this afternoon. I must also say, right at the outset, that, in my opinion, very little that we have learnt from our visits and interaction with communities as to the reasons for such protests, was new or unknown to the majority, if not all, of us. As noted in the report almost all major problems with service delivery revolved around non-compliance of relevant legislation, poor governance, lack of accountability and lack of meaningful communication between government and communities, and even between different spheres of government.

Housing was a particularly challenging issue and was raised almost without exception in all municipalities that we visited. Ironically, it wasn't always about the non-delivery of houses and long waiting lists. Where housing was delivered, it was generally of a poor quality and as mentioned in our report, this particular program appears to be a breeding ground for corrupt activities. In most municipalities there appears to be a general lack of proper planning and in some of the poorest communities where some delivery of houses did take place and where many people find themselves without decent shelter, we came across houses that were either not completed, or completed and standing empty for one or other reason. In the Thulamela municipal area there were unoccupied houses which were completed in 1998. There can be no greater injustice than this - scarce resources, both land and finances, were actually spent or used, but nobody is enjoying the benefit of that expenditure. A homeless beneficiary somewhere should have been homeless no more.

What became abundantly clear is the fact that many of these protests could have been prevented. Now some of you amongst us may question this statement. However, very many issues raised were of such a nature that, if we had functioning municipalities, staffed by competent people appointed on merit, they would have been addressed as a matter of course during the daily service delivery activities that a municipality is obligated to do anyway.

We found, in many instances, that the most basic tasks to be undertaken by a functioning municipality were not done. Granted, in some instances it may have been due to a lack of resources or infrastructure, but even where these were not a major obstacle there was still a problem with the delivery of such services.

For example, in the Ehlanzeni District municipality, we found that there was a lack of clarity of the role of the members of the Mayoral Committee. In the Mkhondo Local municipality, divisions within the elected political representatives where one group supported the Mayor and another aligned themselves with the Speaker, led to paralysis in governance in that municipality. In an important municipality like Buffalo City, where apparently nine councillors have still not been sworn in, it was reported that almost half the councillors were determined to render the council dysfunctional. These are issues where leadership in these municipalities have broken down and are non-existent. The fact that these paralysing situations are still allowed to continue point to a problem with leadership that goes right to the top of our political and governance structures.

What I found particularly useful in this oversight exercise, was the fact that we requested officials from a wide variety of departments to attend our public hearings. At these meetings, often very simple issues were raised where an immediate solution could be identified and the chairperson of that particular delegation could request from the appropriate officials present that certain steps be taken to address the issue. A particular instance that comes to mind is a school in a somewhat rural area where a portion of the roof was blown off in a storm. When we visited the school, which was some weeks after the storm and subsequent damage, the learners were still being taught in the exposed classrooms and teaching was suspended whenever it rained. The chairperson instructed officials from Public Works to take steps to attend to the problem right there and then. However, why problems like that have to wait until an intervention like ours to be addressed, defies comprehension. Surely, it shouldn't need a visit from another sphere of government to get some reaction to such a situation?

A common sentiment expressed again and again by various communities was that this was just another parliamentary or government visit, where promises are made and once the parliamentarians had left it was business as usual, i.e. nothing concrete was done to change the circumstances that have such a dramatic impact on the lives of these communities.

It is therefore with regret that my suggestion that specific resolutions identified at these meetings be recorded in our report was not adopted, and therefore cannot be tracked to determine whether they have indeed been implemented.